West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust

3. Mr O complains the Trust failed to diagnose Mrs O’s abdominal cancer between May and October 2021 (despite her being admitted to hospital six times in this period).

4. Mr O particularly complains it was very difficult to watch Mrs O experience pain during this time and for an extended period. He says had the Trust diagnosed the cancer sooner, as a family they may have been able to think about bringing Mrs O home and treating and caring for her in a better environment.

5. Mr O says an earlier diagnosis would have given him the opportunity to have asked for an independent oncologist to assess Mrs O, to see if there were any alternative ways to treat her pain and suffering or extend her life.

6. Mr O would like financial compensation of £5,000 towards the cost of Mrs O’s headstone.

7. Mr O told us Mrs O had pain in her stomach and was admitted to hospital on 22 May 2021. Mr O says she had a scan of her abdomen and had an emergency procedure to look inside the bladder. The Trust did not detect any kidney stones but the doctors fitted a stent (thin plastic tube) to manage the unexplained urinary obstruction. Mrs O was discharged on 27 May.

8. Mr O says Mrs O was admitted a further six times, diagnosed with a kidney stone and an infection in her heart valve between June and October, when she was finally diagnosed with cancer.

9. Mrs O sadly died in October.

11. The Health Service Commissioners Act 1993 says we cannot investigate a complaint if there is a legal route the complainant could pursue, unless we consider it is not reasonable for them to do this. This is so our organisation does not interfere with matters that are in the remit of the courts.

12. Mr O told us he believes Mrs O’s cancer should have been diagnosed sooner and that the Trust was ‘negligent’ in Mrs O’s care.

13. The Trust reviewed Mrs O’s care and accepted that the mass could have been diagnosed sooner.

14. Mr O has a clear legal route. He could pursue a clinical negligence claim against the Trust for its claimed failure to diagnose Mrs O’s cancer for six months, and for the impact of this on her outlook. Mr O’s desired outcome of financial compensation could be achieved through the courts.

15. We have next considered whether it is reasonable for him to pursue this legal route.

16. Mr O would like financial compensation of £5,000. A clinical negligence claim is not the only way he might be able to achieve this, as we might consider recommending compensation if we investigated and upheld the complaint.

17. Usually, we would not ask someone to pursue a legal route just because of the amount of compensation they are looking to get. However, we can see Mr O wants to take legal action and has been actively pursuing this with solicitors.

18. Mr O explained he had approached two solicitors for advice, but he wanted to see what we would decide first. He advised that there were no personal barriers to him being able to take legal action.

19. He has shown this as he has already taken legal advice and said he would in the future if we would not take on his complaint. Mr O has shown he would be able to pursue legal action and that he has ‘considerable’ experience of the court system.

20. In summary, there is a legal route which Mr O could pursue to achieve the outcome he is seeking. Mr O is looking for financial compensation for the distress and suffering caused and believes the Trust has been ‘negligent’.

21. This is something the courts are best placed to achieve, and we can see no obvious barriers that might prevent Mr O from pursuing this.

22. We consider it is reasonable for Mr O to pursue legal remedy. Mr O can return to our service if he is unable to get legal representation, or if he has outstanding outcomes that have not been considered as part of the legal action.

23. If Mr O choses to bring the complaint back to us, we would advise him to do this as quickly as possible. This is because we have a one-year time limit by which to consider complaints (from the day a person became aware of their reason to complain). We have discretion to set this time limit to one side if there are strong reasons to do this.

24. We are sorry to hear of Mr O and his family’s loss and difficult experience.

1. We have carefully considered Mr O’s complaint about West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust (the Trust). We are sorry to learn of the events that happened between May and October 2021 and the death of his wife, Mrs O. We recognise Mr O experienced significant distress.

2. We consider Mr O could take legal action on complaint he has brought to us. We have set out the reasons for our decision in this statement.